Pompeii is crumbling day by day, but the money needed to save it (or at least to begin to do so) is available.

An amount of € 105 million has been allocated by the Government’s Decree Law “August 8th, 2013, nr. 91”, known as "Valore Cultura", converted into the Law nr. 112, October 7th, 2013.

Of the total amount, 60 million are derived from reprogramming of European Funds for Cohesion, while the remaining 45 million have been granted by the European Commission, following a specific requests by the Italian Government and the definition of a detailed action plan, agreed with the European Executive, in which has been determined the scope of work required for the rehabilitation of Pompeii.

The goal of the European investment is "to preserve the site [Pompeii] as a sustainable tourist attraction for the region Campania" and for Italy.

Unfortunately, the money made ​​available is not “non-repayable”: either Italy will be able to spend it properly and on time, or it will be allocated elsewhere, leaving the Country without funds and suffering the shame of withdrawal.

The peremptory deadline for the total use of the € 105 millions co-financed by the European Commission is June 30th, 2015.

Also, according to the Italian Law no. 112/2013, the deadline for the appointment of the “Commissioner - General Manager “of the project "Great Pompeii" is December 9th, 2013.

During the conversion of the Decree Law, which originally did not provide for, it was also stated the necessity to also appoint a “Deputy Commissioner - General Manager - Vicar.”

Minister Massimo Bray (Cultural Heritage and Tourism) has therefore a very short time at his disposal, that we may now consider just hours, in order to appoint both the figures above.

The duties of the “Commissioner - General Manager” of the project "Great Pompeii", will be, as set in the EU project, to manage and oversee all interventions aimed to the "preservation, maintenance and improvement" of the archeological site.

The first major challenge that will face the newly elected will be to succeed, in a very short time, exactly within December 31st, 2013, to draft the management plan of the site and present it to UNESCO. Shouldn’t this be made on time Pompeii would be included in the UNESCO list of "in danger" sites, thus losing it badly its prestige.

Even More challenging will certainly be putting into practice all the actions to carry out the restoration works on time. It will be necessary to entrust correctly, but quickly, the Calls of the big project. At the moment only five yards have already been opened, to which it will be added , in mid-December, the yard for the safeguarding of the “Regio VII”

The issue of non-appointment has now become ridiculous. The European Commissioner for Regional Policy Johannes Hahn was asked what he thought of the puzzling delay in the appointment of the Italian “Commissioner - General Manager” of the project.

Here are his words:

"I consider the project Pompeii very important for Italy and the world. In particular, however, it is important for the region, where it can generate new jobs and support the local economy thanks to a high quality tourism. Of course, the delays are not positive and the time is running out quickly, as the current programs will end at the end of 2015".

In order to protect the future of Pompeii, a World Heritage Site, we need to put pressure on those who can intervene in this stalemate.

This is exactly the purpose of this petition, trying not to be a conviction or a judgment, but an incentive to act quickly and for the better.